Sulu sat in a bar, staring at his almost empty glass.

He felt like crap, and for a reason. He'd had this huge fight with Margot, a thing he hated the most, especially now that she was right, and there was no way he could admit that.

He groaned in desperation. Why, oh, why, oh, why was this happening to him? He'd give anything to go back to how things have been before that damn away mission where he had met Yoshiko Fujii.

Yeah, if he only could forget all about her, he would have done it. But it seemed his heart had a will of it's own, and a restlessness he'd never felt before, was growing inside of him, so that he just could not shake it off, no matter how much he wanted to.

It was the strangest feeling. To think about someone else than Margot. To want someone else than her. Yeah, he'd had a few girlfriends on the academie days, and also one in the Enterprise before Margot had arrived. But to tell the truth, he had never loved any of them - he had liked them, sure, and the sex had been good. But he had never been in love with anyone but Margot.

He had thought that was the way his heart was built - that there was only room for her, and no one else.

But it turned out, marriage was a complicated thing. And issues of the heart were not as simple as he had thought they would be.

Damn that Yoshiko Fujii, for being so much to his liking. It was almost like he could… fall for her.

He hated it, but he loved it at the same time.

God, this sucked the big time.

"Hey, is everything alright?" a familiar female voice said.

He turned around, to see the beautiful, petite woman leaning on the bar beside him. Her hair was smooth and black, stylishly cut, and her pale skin was flawless. Her eyes were as dark as his own, and they had a nice almond shape - something he found really appealing.

"Oh, hey, Yoshiko." He replied, and pondered for a second or so, if he should just go on with the small talk, or tell the truth. For a reason he really didn't understand, he chose the latter option.

"No… not really. I had this stupid fight with my wife."

"Margot, right?"

"Yeah. You know her?" Sulu looked up to her dark eyes.

"Sure I do. We went to university together, before she dropped out, and enlisted in starfleet."

"Oh." Sulu said.

He remembered that, alright.

It was the first time they had been apart for a such a long time, him and Margot. Margot had moved to Boston to go to University, and he was already in the starfleet academy, having graduated from high school a year earlier than her.

At first Margot would call him all the time, and write letters too - old fashioned, real paper letters, telling all kinds of things she had learnt or seen. But after a few months, the letters stopped, and then the calls too.

The silence was too profound, and Sulu began to worry. He called her many times, but she just would not return his calls, and he had a bad feeling about what was going on.

It could be just booze. Or then it was drugs, which was worse. He'd heard about all kinds of alien drugs that you could get on your hands on a campus, and he knew Margot well enough to suspect she'd tried them all.

Hell, hadn't she learnt anything from the last time she'd been on a rehab?

Or if it wasn't drugs, it could be a bad romance. She had a thing for guys that were bad news. Or perhaps it was something else entirely, a depression that caused her to stop eating. Oh, that sucked big time. Sulu really hoped, it wasn't that. But he couldn't be sure - knowing Margot, it could be anything.

So when he had the next weekend leave, he packed his backpack and went to Boston, to seek her out.

He would never forget how she looked when he found her.

A black eye, a cut lip, a swollen nose and blood on her shirt.

"Oh, fuck you, Hikaru Sulu!" she said, and slammed the door on his face. For a long time he sat on the hallway, leaning his back on the door, talking to her through it. And she leaned on it on the other side, and he heard how she cried.

Finally she let him in, and he cleaned her wounds in the small kitchen of her apartment.

She wouldn't tell him who had beaten her up. All she said, was "I cheated on him, and he found out. I had it coming."

There were empty beer bottles on the floor, and absolutely no food in her fridge, and she looked too thin to be healthy.

Looking at her, Sulu suddenly realized: It didn't matter it it was drugs or alcohol, or a jerk of a boyfriend. Or if it was all of them combined. It didn't matter, for there was no way in Hell, he would leave her in this place.

"You're coming with me." he said to her, and threw her suitcase on the bed. "Pack your things."

"Okay." she whispered, and did as she was told. Probably for the first, and last time in her life.

They walked away from that place, hand in hand. But it wasn't until on their way out of the city, that she asked: "Where are we going?"

"To space." he answered, and took her to enlist in starfleet.

"So, why did she drop out? I never got to ask her that." Yoshiko's voice brought Sulu back to reality. "She was a bright student, getting the best grades. I remember that, for I liked the competition."

"Ah, you know. She just found the Starfleet more interesting, I guess."

"As you do?"

"I guess so."

"So, what is it, that you actually do here." Yoshiko asked, and raised an eyebrow. "Other than save girls from evil aliens?"

He made a small laugh. "Well, that really isn't in my job description. I'm the helmsman of the Enterprise."

"The helmsman? Like a pilot, right?"

"Yeah."

"So… basically, what you're saying is, that you're the one who gets to fly this magnificent space vessel, the flagship of the fleet?"

"Something like that, yeah."

"Wow." she smiled. "That's nice."

"I think so too." Sulu admitted. "Though it's not nearly as exciting as you make it sound."

"Hey, your glass is empty." Yoshiko noticed. "Can I buy you a drink? To thank you for saving my life."

He knew it was a bad idea.

He knew he should've declined and return to the cabin he shared with Margot, and apologize to her for their argument. She'd forgive him for being an ass - she always did, and everything would be back to normal.

Except that it wouldn't. It never would now, that Margot had told him the truth when they'd been fighting. The truth about Yoshiko.

He looked at her, and now that he knew, she seemed even more familiar to him, like he almost remembered how it felt to kiss her, to pull her near, to-

God, he'd really, really have to stop thinking about that!

"Sure, why not." he heard his voice saying. "I'd love to have a drink with you."

"Well then, what can I get you, Mr. Sulu?" She smiled, and sat by his side, and he knew he was in big trouble.